


Reprobation

by bluemoonmaverick



Series: Supposition [27]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Episode Related, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 21:50:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1957365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemoonmaverick/pseuds/bluemoonmaverick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is part of a series that, while sticking strictly to canon, explores the theory that Sam and Jack were engaged in a clandestine romance off-screen from Season 6 onward.</p>
<p>This tag takes place during the events of Line in the Sand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reprobation

Cam had just begun debriefing Landry on the unexpected Ori invasion of P9C-882 when General O'Neill stormed into the conference room, causing the SG-1 leader to stop speaking mid-sentence. Ignoring the other members of the team seated around the table, Jack walked straight toward Landry, pinning him with a glare.

"Where is she?" he growled.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of the head of Homeworld Security, Cam jumped to his feet.

"Sir! I was just explaining how Colonel Carter and I got trapped out of phase-"

O'Neill whirled around and pointed a finger mere inches from Cam's face. "I don't give a fuck what happened out there, Mitchell. You're the team leader. She was your responsibility!"

Not bothering to wait on a response, Jack whipped his head around to scowl at Landry once again.

"Operating room," was all the commander of the SGC said by way of reply.

Jack stormed off then, leaving a stunned Cameron Mitchell slack-jawed in his wake.

oOoOoOo

Jack looked down from the observation room at Carolyn Lam as she hovered over the unmoving form of his wife. Over the course of the past hour, he'd watched her work with an unmistakable confidence, yet he couldn't shake the thought that she was no Janet Fraiser. He wished, not for the first time, that the tiny doctor was still there tending to the medical needs of the SGC personnel.

A few minutes later, Landry walked into the room and stood behind Jack, who didn't bother to acknowledge his presence, choosing instead to keep his eyes on the operation winding up below.

"She was caught off guard by an Ori soldier while trying to get the dimensional field working," Landry said quietly. "Took a staff blast in the side. Mitchell patched her up as best he could." When Jack didn't respond, he continued. "He got her back, Jack."

Jack still didn't say a word. Instead, he simply closed his eyes, trying to tamp down on his smoldering ire. He knew Landry thought he'd been too hard on Mitchell. Perhaps he thought he was letting his personal feelings affect his judgment. Either way, Jack simply didn't care. His whole life was lying on that operating table, and the only thing that mattered to him now was that she was all right.

After Sara left, it never occurred to him that he'd find love again, least of all with a young, snot-nosed, military brat who doubled as a science geek and, inconveniently, his Second in Command. Sure, she'd always been beautiful, and just like most of the men on base, he'd been attracted to her from the beginning. But it wasn't her good looks that had convinced him she was worth risking it all; it was her laugh, her curiosity, her tenaciousness, her loyalty, her penchant for odd colors of jello, all the little things that made her who she was.

He'd never had a chance. And now, he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Jack felt another surge of anger at the thought he'd almost lost her. That he still might. Deep down, though, he knew the problem wasn't that Mitchell let her get shot. It was that he hadn't been there himself to watch out for her, and the rest of the team, too. No, he'd been in Washington, drinking coffee with the politicians and other bootlickers, while she'd nearly bled out on some backwater planet, and he hadn't even been there to hold her.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted when Lam chose that moment to look up at them. She gave a brief nod at the generals, indicating that she had finished, before walking out of the operating theater. Jack turned and strode out of observation room, with Landry close on his heels.

The doctor met the men just outside the recovery room. It was obvious that she was exhausted, her eyes weary and her gown splattered with blood. Sam's blood, Jack thought, causing his gut to twist.

"She's stable for now, but her injuries are serious. I'm not sure if I can save her kidney. I'll know more over the next 24 hours."

"Can I see her?" Jack asked.

Lam nodded her head, and Jack walked into the room just as the medical staff were completing their work. He had to swallow over the lump in his throat as he gazed at the deathly pale face of his wife. The slight rise and fall of her chest and the steady beeping of the monitors served as the only verification that she was still alive.

Wearily, he pulled a chair over to her bedside and sat down before tenderly brushing an errant lock of hair off her brow. He let his fingers trail down the side of her face, and then slowly took her small hand in both of his.

Lam looked sideways at her father, who was standing beside her just outside the door. "I'd heard the General had a thing for Colonel Carter," she said in a low voice.

Landry grunted. "I'd say so," he replied quietly. "He's married to her."

oOoOoOo

Sam stirred and blinked her eyes, trying to get her bearings. It only took a moment before she recognized the familiar gray walls of the SGC infirmary, and in a rush everything came back to her - her injury, the pain, and worst of all, the certainty that she was going to die. Yet here she was, and though she had definitely felt better, it appeared that she was going to live after all.

A soft snore drew her attention to her left side, where she saw Jack, still in his dress blues, fast asleep with his head resting on the side of her bed. She smiled and ran her thumb over his hand where it clasped hers. The movement woke him, and he sat up immediately with a dazed look on his face.

"Hey," he said sleepily, returning her smile once he saw that she was awake.

Sam cleared her throat, and Jack reached over to get her water. "How long have you been there?" she asked, her voice still hoarse.

"Uh…" Jack looked at his watch, then raised his eyebrows and blew out a large breath of air. "A while."

She narrowed her eyes at him. While they had stood vigil over each other's battered bodies for years, she knew it was bound to raise some suspicion that he'd come all the way from Washington to do it this time. Not to mention the fact that he'd apparently held her hand the entire time he'd been there.

"You do this for all your soldiers, General?" she asked.

He gave her a half grin. "Just the ones I'm in love with."

"People will talk," she replied with a smile.

He shrugged. "What else is new?"

Jack gazed down at their clasped hands, and his mood suddenly turned serious. "You scared me there for a minute, Carter."

"Scared myself, sir."

When he looked up at her, she could plainly see the anguish that her brush with death had caused him. That, more than anything, made her appreciate just how close she had come to dying and leaving him forever.

He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Don't ever do that again, Carter," he whispered meaningfully.

Sam choked back a sob and tried unsuccessfully to keep a tear from running down her face. "Yes, sir," she whispered back.

oOoOoOo

Jack strode into Cam's office without bothering to knock. "Mitchell!" he said sharply.

"Sir!" Cam barked as he sprang to his feet, sending the report he'd been reading flying.

Though normally he relished making younger officers squirm, in this case, Jack was already feeling guilty for his prior treatment of this particular airman. He waved his hand at him dismissively.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud, at ease, Mitchell." He let out a short sigh. "Look, I owe you an apology. Actually, I think I owe you several," he added as he sat down on the edge of Cam's desk.

Cam furrowed his brow. "Sir?"

"For earlier. My behavior…I was out of line. You didn't deserve that. I was just…upset. Really upset. I thought I was going to lose her."

"I understand, sir."

"No," Jack insisted, "I don't think you do."

Cam looked the older man in the eye. "Sam was your second for many years…" he began by way of explanation.

But Jack cut him off with an unexpected chuckle. "She's more than that. She's my wife."

Though he'd been standing at parade rest ever since Jack had entered his office, Cam now turned to face the older man fully, a look of stunned disbelief on his face. "What?"

"Yeah," Jack began, rubbing the back of his neck, "she didn't want me to tell you. Thought it might make you treat her differently."

But Cam was still trying to fully process this revelation. "You and Sam are…married?"

"You don't have to act so surprised, Mitchell. Surely, you've heard the rumors."

"Well, yeah, but I figured that was just talk." Jack just shrugged by way of response. "So, wait," Cam continued, still trying to work through it all. "How long have you been married?"

"Almost two years now."

"You've been married this whole time?" Cam asked, his disbelief evident. He was suddenly struck by a thought. "And the Air Force is okay with that?" The words were out of his mouth before it occurred to him that he was questioning a superior office about the legality of his love life, a fact that was not lost on Jack.

"Well, the Commander in Chief is okay with it, so it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks," Jack replied brusquely. He quickly softened his tone. "That being said, we're, uh, not supposed to advertise our relationship, so I'd appreciate it if you kept this little piece of information to yourself."

"Yes, sir," Cam responded without hesitation, then thought about the situation for a moment. "Teal'c and Daniel?"

"They know. As does Landry. And Carolyn Lam now, too, apparently." Cam was still trying to remember everything he'd ever said about Jack to Sam when the General changed tack. "Listen, Mitchell, not only did I want to apologize. I want to thank you."

Cam looked at him, confused. "For what?"

"Sam told me what happened. She said you kept her alive, that she'd be dead if it weren't for you."

He shook his head. "I don't know about that, sir. She's pretty tough…"

"That she is. Still, I have a feeling that I owe you one, a big one." Jack stood and started for the door. "Now, I'm off to see Sam to tell her that we spoke. She heard that I yelled at you, and I'm in the doghouse right now. So if you could put in a good word…."

Cam chuckled. "Yes, sir."

"And Mitchell…"

"Sir?"

"I'm glad you're out there with her," he said seriously. "With all of them."

Cam smiled. "Thank you, sir."


End file.
